A Vatican Tour with The Roman Guy | Discovering my own backyard

I rarely have, as going abroad to discover new and exciting places seemed always the easier choice (why?!).

Then it hit me, I live in one of the most visited countries in the world, so why not see it as a tourist!?

Why shouldn’t I learn more about my own backyard?

Well my first local tour happened only a few days ago here in Rome.

I took the Privileged Entrance Vatican Museums Sistine Chapel tour with The Roman Guy and I am happy I did!

A Vatican Tour with The Roman Guy | Discovering my own

backyard

Now for many tourists and locals alike, the Vatican is a definite on the list of ‘things to see’ and rightly so, in my opinion.

I mean, in how many countries can you experience spectacular history, art and beauty while being in 2 different countries at once!?

Before I go and amaze you with my photos and videos, there are some things that really stood out for me about this guided Vatican Tour!

Firstly, it was a great way to ‘refresh’ my knowledge on the Vatican Museums, St. Peters Basilica and secondly, I also learned a few new things which is always a positive.

Take for example that within St. Peter’s Basilica, the paintings on the walls are not paintings but mosaics, hence we are allowed to take photos in the Basilica and not within the Sistine Chapel!

Crazy right?

From an artistic perspective, you come to realise that every piece of artwork inside the museum and St. Peter’s Basilica, was done by a master of the arts.

There are icons within these walls that are as famous as the Colosseum or the leaning Tower of Pisa.

I may have seen ‘La Pietà’ a number of times solo but to be explained the story behind this incredible sculpture, with so much passion, really makes you appreciate it that much more.

Other Things I Learned Discovered

St. Peter’s Basilica is HUGE and it won’t even seem that immense until you hear the numbers.

Not only the sheer number of people that fit in the Basilica (60,000 by the way) but the size of the statues, the writings on the walls, everything about this Basilica is massive. I won’t spoil it for you, just keep this in mind when you do take this tour.

The most important piece of knowledge I learned from Raffaella (our tour guide), or at least the one that I appreciated the most, was that Pope Francis does not sleep at the Papal Apartments. He lives in a convent, true to his beliefs of leading a simple life.

I cannot thank Raffaella enough for such a great experience and tour. She made the tour an absolute pleasure to be a part of, engaging with us continuously and you could really tell, she loves what she does.

The Roman Guy

The Roman Guy is not just one guy but really a great team of people working to provide awesome tours in Il Bel Paese.

Intrigued, I continued researching their tours and saw that these guys have a top rating on TripAdvisor (over +1200 reviews) and have been featured in Forbes Travel Guide, Rick Steve’s Europe, Fox News, Daily Mail and many more.

Tours

My Vatican Tour started at 7:30am and went for 3.5 hours, which meant I avoided all the queues (they can take hours to get through!), enjoyed the freedom walking through the museum without being closed in like a sardine (after 10am it gets crazy busy) and all with a local guide.

Full details can be found on their website –The Roman Guy and an afternoon tour is also available. I highly recommend the morning tour!

The team have been a pleasure to deal with and the whole process is friendly, with high quality customer service and the tours on offer are great.

Their tours are suitable for small groups through to your very own private tours.

Alternatively, you have little time to plan or just want to take the hassle out of your holiday, they put together Tours! All you have to do, is get to Italy.

There is something for everyone.

Another aspect that caught my attention was their social media pages, as well as the comments they receive from all those that have taken part in one or more of their tours.

It is the best thing I ever did, especially because we were their well before the massive crowds! Being a tourist in your own country is not something people do very often but I have every intention of doing tours wherever I go next. It really is well worth it! Thank you for stopping by and ciao from Rome 🙂